JMRL blog

Central Library’s Brown Baggers held their annual holiday potluck and selection meeting on December 18th, 2025.  This group has been meeting since 2008 and the annual meeting in December is when the titles are chosen for June-May of the next year.  Each attendee is invited to suggest up to 3 titles for the group to […]

On Saturday, February 7, 2026, JMRL will celebrate Take Your Child to the Library Day. Now in its 15th year, this annual event is a wonderful opportunity for kids and their families to enjoy the library and learn about all of the free resources public libraries provide to the community. JMRL helps families build solid […]

Books on Tap met on Jan. 8th at Random Row to discuss The River is Waiting by Wally Lamb. Although a very difficult and emotional read, the novel was well received by the group and garnered votes of 4 and 5 on a scale of 1 (1 being the worst) to 5. Most readers could […]

For November 20th, the Central Library Brown Baggers read and discussed “I Know Why the Cage Bird Sings” published in 1969  by Maya Angelou.  This title is the first of seven titles in her autobiographical series so a good place to start!  For most of our readers, it was their first time reading Angelou. The […]

Contact: Dylan Padilla, pr@jmrl.org, David Plunkett, director@jmrl.org Sadeqa Johnson’s The House of Eve selected as JMRL’s 2026 Same Page Community Read Programs and events planned for March in partnership with Virginia Festival of the Book CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va., Dec. 19, 2025 – JMRL and Virginia Humanities are pleased to announce that Sadeqa Johnson’s The House of Eve, […]

Patrons checked out over 1,900,000 items this year. That’s That’s more than 5,000 items per day, all year long. No paywalls, no algorithms; just your library doing what it does best! This year, JMRLCelebrates 650,000 + Library Visitors 105,000 + Program Attendees 222,000 + Holds Placed This year, Patronssigned up for over 9,600 new library […]

On November 6, Books on Tap met to discuss The House in the Cerulean Sea  by T.J. Klune. Klune is an American author whose books feature LGBTQIA+ characters. He won a Lambda Award in 2014 for Into This River I Drown. He started writing at the age of 8 and was influenced by Stephen King, […]

The Central Library Brown Baggers selected “That Librarian: The Fight Against Book Banning in America”  by Amanda Jones as a 2025 group read back at the lunchtime selection meeting in December 2024.  Appropriately enough,we discussed this title on October 16th of 2025; one week after 2025 Banned Books Week and the local screening on Oct. […]

Central Library’s Brown Baggers discussed Thornton Wilder’s “The Bridge of San Luis Rey” on Sept. 18th.  For most of our readers, it was their first time reading Wilder, who is best known for his play “Our Town”.  Five lives are lost in an Act of God when a bridge collapses in 18th century Peru.  Franciscan […]

On October 2, Books on Tap met at Random Row Brewing to discuss the curious incident of the dog in the night-time by Mark Haddon. Haddon is an English novelist, best known for this book which was written for adults but it also greatly appeals to the young adult crowd. He won the Whitbread Award, […]

Give the gift of reading! Donate new children’s books at your local JMRL branch to share the gift of reading with kids in your community. Please drop off new, unwrapped books for kids from 0 to 12 years old at any JMRL branch from November 1 to December 1, 2025 (hardcover books preferred). Books received […]

November 3-18 JMRL Food for Fines Food Drive Bring an item to the Front Desk of any JMRL location and receive $1 off overdue fines and late renewal fines for each donated item. Accounts in collections and billed items are ineligible for this offer. No fines? Your donations are still greatly appreciated! This will mark […]